Do we need three levels of government?
So much red tape. The bureaucracy, the political class, the Canberra Bubble™. Does a nation of 25 million people really need three tiers of government? While Australians grow weary of our multi-layered government, many countries across the Asia-Pacific region are calling on their own governments to federalise and introduce more layers of government. Join Dr Michael Breen as he explains why Australia differs from our neighbours on our federal preferences, and how a fourth tier of Australian government could enable a stronger Indigenous voice to parliament.
Bio
Dr Michael Breen is a McKenzie Fellow in the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Melbourne. Prior to that Michael worked at Deakin University, after completing his PhD at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Michael's research focuses on federalism in Asia, and the management of ethnic diversity. He is the author of 'The Road to Federalism in Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka: Finding the Middle Ground' (2018, Routledge) and has contributed to Nepal's constitution-making process that established it as a federal democratic republic. Michael's research also explores the role of deliberative democracy and the use of deliberative polling in constitution-making and conflict management. Prior to academia, Michael was a policy maker, negotiator and project manager in various government departments in Australia and international organisations including the United Nations Development Programme. His professional background is in Indigenous rights and native title, political inclusion and environmental conservation.
7:30pm @Queensberry Hotel, 593 Swanston Street Melbourne VIC 3035.
Also speaking at this location at 6:00pm is Dr Jennifer Baxter.
This venue is not wheelchair accessible.
Please reach out to knowledge@melbourne.vic.gov.au to request an Auslan interpreter for this event.
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